Turbine-controller.



W. A. LOUDON.

TURBINE CONTROLLER.

APPLICATION FILED T1113. 4, '1904.

Patented Nov. 30, 1909.

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Patented Nov. 30, 1909.

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WILLIAM A. LOUDON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

TURBINE-CONTROLLER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed February 4, 1904. Serial No. 192,047.

To all whom it-ma'y concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM A. LOUDON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Fluid-Actuated Turbine-Controller, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in controllers or governors for turbines which are driven by a pressure of water, steam or gas, and particularly for that class which have a series'of jets or nozzles by means of which a series of streams of the pressure fluid are forced againstor into a series of pockets or paddles on a rotating portion of the turbine. The force of these streams causes the turbine wheel to rotate, and to reduce the speed of said turbine wheel when the load decreases, one or more streams, as may be required, are completely shut off, and if a greater speed or more power is required, more of the aforesaid streams are brought into use.

The object of my invention is to provide mechanism whereby'these streams are automatically shut off or turned on as may be required to keep the turbine wheelrotating at a certain predetermined speed.

I do not claim'this mechanism in connection with any particular kind of turbine, hence I do not attempt to illustrate. the interior of a turbine, but only a general elevation of one class of turbineso as-to show the require only the services of a skilled mechanic.

My invention consists broadly of attachmg a liquid pump to the turbine shaft so that the pump will force li uid through a pipe provided therefor, an liquid pressure to operate the valves controlling the speed of the turbine; a by-pass o f a certa1'n size being provided whereby the liquid forced by the pum is returned to a supply reservoir. This y-pass .I prefer provlding with a regulating valve, so as to regulate the amount of liquid which is to flow through said by-pass and thereby re ulate'the speed of the turbine. I also pre erably place another valve in the aforesaid byutilizing this pass which is constantly bein controlled by a governor driven bythe tur ine.

To. more fully describe my invention I have illustrated the same in the accompanying three sheets of drawings, in which Figure 1, is a side elevation of. a turbine showing my invention in connection therewith; Fig.'2, is a diagrammatic view showing the apparatus constituting a portion of my invention; Fig. 2, is a view partly in section showing a modification. of a part of my invention; Fig. 3, is a detail sectional view showing a modified form of a portion of my invention; Fig. 4, is a detail. sectional View of a valvemechanism used in connection with my invention, and Fig. 5, is a similar view showing a modified form of the valve mechanism shown in Fig. 4.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throigehout the several views.

The style of turbine which I have shown in the drawing is mounted on a vertical shaft which extends some distance above the turbine and has secured thereto a dynamo electric 1nachine, the two machines being inclosed in a proper casin 10. Driven by the turbine shaft and preferably mounted on the same at the top of the casing 10 is a liquid pump 11. This pump, 11 has a suction pipe 12 and the discharge pipe 13.

suction pipe 12 extends into a liquid receptacle 14 preferably near to the bottom thereof; and the receptacle 14 is preferably open on top so as to be exposed to the atmospheric pressure for reasons to be mentioned. 'The discharge pipe 13 is provided with any suitable arrangement of iston and cylinder whereby a plurality o rods are operated successively by the increased pressure in the discharge pipe 13.

A pipe 15 serving as a bypass is connected to the dischargepipe 13 and leads therefrom to the receptacle 14.

When thepump 11 is in operation the liquid will be drawn from the receptacle 14 through the suction pipe 12 and pumpll, and forced through the discharge pipe 13,

and finding no other exit will pass through the bypass 15 and back into the receptacle 14.

If the bypass 15 were of the same area in a 105 Patented Nov. so, 1909 The l utilize the pressure created by the pump 11 E series; thus closing the circuit through one to operate certain valves I provide in the brush'23, conductor 26, solenoid 27, con by pass 15 an ordinary. globe valve 16, by l ductor 28, battery 25, conductor 24 and to means of which the passage of liquid through the bypass 15 can be regulated.

The final object in creating a pressure in the pipe 13 is to operate a.plurality of valves which control the steam supply to the turbine for driving the same.

I have shown two systems of operating these steam supply valves from the pressure in the discharge pipe 13, the one shows the steam supply valves operated electrically and the other shows the steam supply valves operated directly by the pressure of the.

liquid in pipe 13.

will describe the former system first and then .the latter.

A branch of the discharge pipe 13 is connected to one end of a cylinder 17 which has fitted into it a piston 18 on the end of a pistonfrod 19 which extends through a hole in a screw cap 20 in the other end of the cylinder 17. A coiled compression spring 21 is interposed between the piston 18 and the screw cap 20 to normally hold the piston at the end of the cylinder 17 where the pipe 13 is connected.

-Any pressure created in the pipe 13 will therefore be exerted against the piston 18 and compress the spring 21 partly; of course, the greater the pressure is, the greater the compression of the spring will be.

The outer end of the piston rod 19 is 'provided with a metallic contact piece 22, arranged to move and be contacted with a double series of spring pressed carbon brushes 23, arranged to contact with the metallic piece 22 in pairs. The metallic piece 22 serves to make electrical contact between each pair of carbon brushes 23 successively as it is moved along. One of each pair-of brushes 23 is connected by a conductor 24 to one side of a battery or source of electric current 25, while the remaining one of each pair of brushes 23 is connected by a' conuctor 26 to thecoil of a solenoid 27, the opposite end of the said solenoid coil being connected by a conductor 28 to the opposite side of the battery 25. Obviously it takes more force to compress the spring 21 a great distance than it does to compress it only slightly.

When no pressure is exerted against the piston 18 by the liquid in the discharge pipe 13 the piston and therefore the contact piece 22 are held in their normal position by the spring 21, in which position the contact piece 22 does not contact with any of the brushes 23. hen pressure is exerted against the piston 18 by the liquid contained in the discharge pipe 13 the piston will be moved against the -pressure of the spring 21, first 'to cause the metal piece 22 to contact with the first pair of brushes 23 of the the other brush 23. The closing of this circuit causes the solenoid core 29 to be attracted and moved downward, which carries with it the operatin rod 30 which is connected to the operating lever 31 of a small pilot valve 32.

A. greater pressure exerted against the piston l8 by the liquid in the pi e 13 will make contact between the secon pair of brushes 23 of the series, which will cause the second valve 32 of a series, to be moved by the second solenoid of a series. And so on a still "reater pressure will cause the third solenoid of the series-to operate the'third valve 32 of a series.

It is understood that any other electrical appliance which will operate the valve's 32 is an equivalent of that just described.

The pilot valve 32 is a small valve auxiliary to the pressure fluid supplying valve. To reduce the load on the controlling or governing mechanism to a minimum, I arrange the pressure fluid or supply valve to be moved by the motive fluid under the control of said valve 32. As all of the regulating or supply valves are the same, I will only describe one of them.

Referring to Fig. 4, and assuming the pressure fluid to be steam, the main steam pipe 33 is connected with the smaller steam pipe 34, by a passage-way provided with the valve 35 which is held firmly on its seat by the pressure in pipe 33.

Rigidly secured to the valve 35 is a stem 36 which extends across the pipe 33 and has secured to it a piston 37 fitted to move in a cylinder 38.

Leading from the cylinder space 38 back of the piston 37 ,.to the main steam pipe 33 is.

a small pipe 39 which is provided with the pilot valve 32. The pilot valve 32 is a three-way valve, and in one position it makes communication between the main steam pipe 33 and the cylinder 38, as shown in Fig. 4, this being its operatin position and results in closing a supply va ve; in its other position it shuts ofi communication between the main steam pipe 33 and cylinder 38 and makes communication between the cylinder 38 and the outside atmosphere or other exha-ust, this being its normal position and results in' opening a sup ly valve.

A spring 40 is prov1 ed to form a cushion between the piston 37 and the end of the cylinder 38, which also assists in starting the piston and valve into motion.

I preferably provide the supply valve 35 with a piston end 41 to enter a dash-pot 42 which forms a cushion at one end of the valve stem 36.

The pipe 34 serves to convey the steam to a nozzle not shown.

In operation, when the pil0t'valve 32 is in its normal or open position. 6. making communication between thecylinde'r 38, an the outside atmosphere, the steam pressure.

1 force the piston 37 out. "against the spring .40 and hold the supply valve 35 ofl of its. seat, permitting steam topass into the pipe 34, and thence to the in the pipe 33 wi nozzle, "01' other fluid-discharging device. Of course, it will be understood, to have this action-of the parts take place the piston 37 must be of a greater areathan the valve 35. In order to close the supply valve when the load decreases, the solenoid is .deenergized and the pilot valve caused to assume, the position shown in Fig. 4 by a [spring or other means. This admits live steam back of the piston and the pressure plus that of the spring 40 overcomes the pressure in the steam pipe 33, and the piston moves downward and closes the supply valve.

In Fig. 5, I have shown a modification of the system of operating the supply valve 35; the piston 37 being provided with a perfora- 'tion 43 which is considerably smaller than the opening in the pilot valve 32, and the cylinder space 38 is never brought into communication with the steam pipe 33.

In operation, when the pilot valve 32 is in its normal or open position, 2'. e. making communication between the cylinder 38 and the outside atmosphere, the steam pressure in the pipe 33 will force the piston 37 out against the spring 40 and hold the supply valve 35 oil of its seat permitting steam to pass into the pipe 34.

I prefer to have an extension 44 on the piston 37 which will close the opening lead ing to the pilot valve 32 when such valve is in its normal position, and thus revent the'escape of any steam through t e perforation 43. 7

Referring to Fig; 2 the other system of operating the pilot valves 32 consists of connecting a branch pipe 45 to the pipe 13 which. connects with a series of cylinders 46 each provided with a piston 47 secured.

toa piston rod 48, which may be direct connected to a suply valve or to a pilot valve.

Each piston 47 is normall held in against the pressure in the pipe 13 y a coiled compression spring 49 interposed between the piston 47 and a screw ca 50 on the end of the cylinder 46. The cylinders 46 are made successively smaller in diameter, so that as the pressure in the pi e 13 increases, the pistons 47 will successive ybe forced out against the springs 49, which are all of the same tension.

The piston rods 48 are connected to levers 31 of the pilot valves 32, to operate them.

i In Fig, 3, I illustrate another method of operating the pilot valves 32 directly by the pressure in the pipe 13.

'The pipe 13 has the branch 51 leading to the first cylinder 52 of a series, there being as many cylinders ,52as there are pilot valves 32, one to operate each valve, I have shown five of such cylinders 52. Each cylinder is providedwith a piston 53'on the end of arod 54 which is connected to the lever 31 to operate the pilot valve 32.

A coiled compression spring 55 is interposed between the piston 53 and ascrew cap 56 to normally hold the piston 53 in against the pressure in the pipe13. I preferably make the springs 55 in each successive cylinder 52 somewhat stronger than the one in the cylinder next preceding. At a suflicient distance from the'end of the cylinder 52, in which the piston 53 normally rests, is connected a pipe 57 which connects with the end of the next succeeding cylinder. These pipe connections 57 are made in the same manner between all the cylinders 52 of the series.

In operation, when suflicient pressure is created in the pipe 13 it is exerted against the piston 53in the first cylinder 52 and compresses the spring 55 and moves the pilot "valve 32 to cause the supply valve 35 to be closed. A greater increase in pressure in the pipe 13 will necessarily be exerted against the piston 53 in the second cylinder 52', as the piston in the first cylinder has been moved beyond the point where the pipe 57 is connected and allows the free passage of any pressure fluid into the second cylinder 52. Thus it will be seen as the pressure increasesin the pipe 13 the pistons in the successive cylinders 52, and, of course, the pilot valves 32 connected to such pistons, will be moved successively.

As the pressure in the pipe 13 diminishes, the last moved piston will be returned to its normal position by its spring 55 first because said spring is exerting greater pressure than the one next receding, and so on through the whole serles of cylinders 52. Instead of having each succeeding spring 55 somewhat stronger to insure the proper successive operations, I may employ mechanical means whereby each piston is locked in its operated position by the operation of the next succeeding piston, and the return of each piston to its normal position will unlock the next preceding piston.

This system of causing successive movements by an increasing or decreasing pressure created by a pump constantly driven .by the turbine I claim broadly, whether acios may provide another valve 58 in the bypass 15which is constantly under the control of a governor 59 driven by the same engine that drives the pump 11.,

As the speed of the engine increases the governor 59 moves the valve 58 and decreases the flow ofliquid through said valve, which causes the pressure in the pipe-l3 to increase more rapidly than it would without the use of the governor and valve 58.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, I have described the prin ciple of operation of my invention, together with the apparatuswhich I now consider to represent the best embodiment thereof; but I desire to have it understood that the appa ratus shown is only illustrative, and that the invention can be carried out by other means.

Having thus described my invention what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. In a controlling device, a pump, a reservoir, a valve in a by-pass between the outlet of the pump and the reservoir, and means whereby a series of valves are operated successively by either the increase or decrease of pressure produced by the pump.

2. In a controlling .device, a pump provided with an inlet and an outlet, a bypass connecting said outlet and said inlet, a valve in said by-pass controlled by a governor, and

, means whereby a series of valves are operated successively by either the increase or decrease of pressure produced by the pump,

said means comprising pistons connected to said valves and subjected to the pressure of said pump.

3. In a controlling device, a constantly driven pump, and means wherebv a series of valves are operated successively -bv either the increase or decrease of pressure produced by the pump.

4. In a turbine controlling device, a series of pistons subjected to a pressure created by the turbine, each of said pistons bein of a different area, and means for yiel ingly holding said pistons against said pressure.

5. In a controllin device, a liquid pump provided with an in ct and an outlet, a bypass connecting said inlet and outlet, a.regu lating valve in said by-pass, a series of cylinders connected with said outlet, pistons rovided in said cylinders, springs providedv to normally move said pistons against said" provided with an outlet and pressure created by said pump.

6. In a controlling device a liquid pump an inlet, a bypass connecting said outlet and inlet, a valve in said byass controlled by a governor, and a series 0. cylinders of diiferent diameters provided with pistons, said pistons bein connected to a series of valves whereb sai valves will be operated consecutive y by either the increase or decrease of pressure created by said pump.

7. In a liquid pressure controller mechanism for turbines, the combination of valves,

fluid motors having difle'rential pistons operatively connected to said valves, means to deliver liquid pressure to said motors, means to vary the pressure of said liquid in said motors, and a reservoir in which the surplus liquid, due to the displacement of said pistons, may be stored.

8. In a governing mechanism, a pump for maintaining a supply of liquid under pressure, a plurality of valves, differential pistons and cylinders for actuatin the valves, and'a means for regulating t e action of the liquid from the pump on the said pistons.

9. In a governing mechanism, a pump for maintaining a supply of liquid under pressure, a plurality of valves, difi'erential pistons and cylinders for actuating the valves,

a means for regulating the action of the liquid from the pump on the said pistons,

and a reservoir in communication with the pump.

10. ha governing mechanism, a pump for maintaining a sup ly of 1i uid under pressure, a plurality oi valves, ifierential pistons and cylinders for moving the valves in one direction, motors for moving them in the opposite direction, and a governor for controlling the action of the said pistons and motors.

.In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses this 10th day of October, 1903.

WILLIAM A. LOUDON.

Witnesses:

R. J. JAGKER, A. U. DECKER. 

